XV. 
THE FISH-POACHER. 
FIsH-POACHING is practised none the less for the 
high preservation and stricter watching which is 
so characteristic of the times. In _ outlying 
country towns, with salmon- and trout-streams in 
the vicinity, it is carried on to an almost in- 
credible extent. There are many men who live 
by it, and women to whom it constitutes a 
thriving trade. These know neither times nor 
seasons, and, like the heron and the kingfisher, 
poach the whole year round. They provide the 
chief business of the country police-court, and 
the great source of profit to the local fish and 
game dealer. The wary poacher never starts 
for his fishing-grounds without having first his 
customer ; and it is surprising with what lax code 
of morals the provincial public will deal when the 
silent night worker is one to the bargain. Of 
course, the public always gets cheap fish and 
